On the heels of an embarrassing playoff performance, Soto's decision to leave the New York Yankees behind was in many ways taken as a repudiation of Judge, who was raked over the coals for a perceived disinterest in recruiting his costar.

With the Subway Series set to ignite another chapter of New York's baseball rivalry, Soto insists he's simply focused on winning. But he told the New York Post that it will be 50,000 against 1 when he returns to Yankee Stadium for the first time since taking the Mets’ $765 million offer.

Juan Soto was uninvested. Juan Soto was just passing through. Juan Soto used 2024 simply as a turnstile to free agency, marking time on the calendar until his inevitable offseason payday. Juan Soto didn’t build any real relationships in the Yankees clubhouse. Aaron Judge didn’t do enough recruiting.